XC beginner here. It was a great day, had lots of lift in my Astir CS jut below the clouds. Got cocky and light-headed and thought, this day is perfect. At some point I noticed I was starting to lose concentration and I caught myself being too relaxed. So I decided to go home, with 300m or so safety altitude to arrive at my home airfield. Then I noticedm while going straight home, that there was more and more sink the lower I got. -2m, -3, -2 again, and the computer accordingly told me that my margin was shrinking FAST. So I got a bit uneasy but then found a thermal just on the track, and pulled 150 to 200m altitude out of it, and then went back to final glide. half a minute later again I encountered serious sink. it just got worse and worse the lower I got. In the end I managed to turn into long final at 200m AGL, but let's be honest here. I made huge mistakes. First, I should have taken that last thermal and stayed in it ALL THE WAY up. I was just eager to get home. Also, I started considering landing out as an option, but way too late. At the point where it became a real possibility in my head, I was out of good options and all I could have taken, were bad fields with lots of unknown ground features. Just telling my story, my thoughts, and so on. I think such a mistake could at some point threaten my life. I just should have pulled my act together and made more clearer decisions.
Thanks for your comment and insights! I appreciate that your share your experiences including the critical moments. It can helpy many other pilots to learn a lot. And yes, final glides can be very thrilling. The situation can change very quickly from full confidence to terrible desperation. As far as I can read from your story the topic of "shifting gears" during a flight is so important. I experienced a similar situation where I got to much used to good weather conditions and I was still pushing to much. It ended with an outlanding. I learned that switching from good weather conditions to weak conditions is something difficult to accept for pilots and something to be improved. Good luck for all you future flights!
One of my brothers was a keen glider pilot. In one occasion when we was under instruction from a guy flying in loose formation, they ran out of altitude to get back to the airfield. His instructor told him "follow me" and pushed the stick forward to get into ground effect, then pulled up several times to hop over trees. They arrived with some speed to spare then pulled the airbrakes.
I started a final, some 30 km away, at an altitute of 1200 mts in a 1:30 glider. No more thermals expected. A direct opposite light wind estimated to be around 5 km/hr. Another glider ahead of me, some 100 ahrad but 50 mts below. Final 10 km was absolutely scary and wonderful at same time with we flying at best speed from the polar and seeing the ground - farmland - so close behind. Need strong nerves, coolness and high confidence. Also the airfield we were heading, layed across our approach path ! And that will require a 90 ° turn for landing. Thanks God we made a correct estimate of headwind and arrived with some 100 mts for the 90° turn. My companion ahead of me arrived almost touching the ground but in high speed and was able to maje a spectacular maneuver to briefly pass anove the eucaliptus trees line that run parallel to the runway and had a succeful landing. My right turn over the eucaliptus was more safe and I landed short behind him... What a flight !!!
Excellent video, please keep your content comming ;) However, one remark - where else to try it, if not "at home", with my "home landscape", knowing the wind directions, potential thermals or potential sinks :) If I was in Alps, I would have had to change my underwear after such a flight ;) You obviously know what you are doing and you didn't do it first time, so thank you for sharing that experience. As others already said, wind direction would be for sure a crucial factor in this kind of final glide. But on the other side, you had several escape options, so all was good even in bad wind conditions. That is exactly what makes this art of sport extraordinary - practice and practice :)
The route between Steinplatte and Reit im Winkl does feel very tense! Sooooo many trees and the ground only just falling away at around the glide ratio. It's worth noting that later in the day when the mountains have been sucking in the air from the north that there can be some horrible sink going through that gap at the Steinplatte carpark. Another great video, looking forward to more to help keep the winter feeling away.
Thanks for your comment, wingman! You flew this route a few weeks ago and encountered a lee at Steinplatte. Yes, that is an important factor to consider that wind from north late in the day can influence the glide path a lot.
I like the expression, "It is important to mention that I am a learning glider pilot... " aren't we all?.... ps: you are one hell of a good "learning glider pilot".... The amount of opportunities for sink along that entire route is still too much for me
...so true, we are all learning glider pilots! To learn to get into flow with nature, physics and mindset is a true adventure for life! I entered the sport late in my early 30s, so I feel I am defenitely a learning pilot compared to the lucky ones started in their tens... Thanks for sharing your thoughts and always happy landings!
Looked sometimes a litlle scary but well done. Been there a couple times as a gliding instructor and know the area somehow, but never did a final glide that low.
Danke für das informative Video! Gut gemacht, man sieht dass viel Vorbereitung entsprechende Resultate bringen kann. Auch wenn es anfangs unheimlich anmutet, wie du richtig sagst. Ich freue mich aufs nächste Video von dir 😃! LG aus Linz
Well done! I focused on your glide ratio, which was conservative (good). I'm sure you considered required glide, and I'm thinking it was close to your actual ratio. I'm also a relatively new glider pilot, and getting below ridge lines, unless in a climb or setting up for a landing, raises the hackles on the back of my neck! Thank you for the video.
thanks for your feedback. actually I tried to keep a lower glide ratio around 25 for training purposes and to get a feeling for the worse case when conditions are not good. If I would go for best glide ratio I would have arrived much higher with the Hph 304 (approx. 1:43). Good luck for all your flights in future! Where do you fly?
Double many thanks to you @Alpha-III: 1st for establishing the great term "goodtakes and mistakes" and for your feedback! I am looking forward to more of your greeat videos too!
Ihr habt's gut mit euren 1:60 Büchsen 😜 Scherz beisite: ich als Drachenflieger habe natürlich meine Polare im Kopf und kriege jede Mal Beklemmungen wenn ich eure Landevolten sehe (oder auch Talsprünge mit 10m drüber). Aber ihr seid leistungsmäßig einfach in einer anderen Welt unterwegs. Man kommt euich leider nie hinterher, selbst bei Vollgas. Danke fürs Video ! Happy landings !
…na ihr genießt andere privilegien…ihr fallt nicht aus engen bärten und habt das traumhafteste und direkteste fluggefühl, so wie ihr da unter dem flügel hängt…👌🏼 ich hatte das vergnügen meine fliegerei mit drachenfliegen anzufangen! 😃
Yeah, that's some glide ratio numbers we paragliderers only dream of... Nice to see anyways. Cool and informative. I'm doing competitions as well, same but different 😊
...and we gliders dreaming of being able to turn tight circles and land on plates as you paragliders can do! Safe flights and good luck for your competitions!
You re lucky to live at this beautiful place! By the way the airfield is organizing a special day for locals to try out gliding on 14.-15.10.23. Check it out here: www.dassu.de/termine/2023/10/14/einheimischenfliegen You will be warmly welcomed there to take a flight! Unfortunately I cannot be there!
Very nicely done, great video too. Just don’t close with “over and out” - “Over” means, I have finished speaking and await your response, whilst “Out’ means, conversation over, and I am not listening any more! So “over and out” means, I expect you to respond but I won’t be listening! (We don’t use these terms at all on aviation VHF, but these are used in maritime VHF transmissions).
thanks for sharing nicely edited and great to follow your thinking and decision making. What was the wind like, would be good to include this as its an important factor in the mountains? most likely very light to non existend from what i can see. Wind could have played a very critical role especially as valleys sometimes create windfunnels or strange conditions you did not expect. your instruments will not tell you this as they only know what was before not wat is to come so only local experience will help you and even then it could still surprise you. ;)
Thanks for your feedback! Yes, wind is very important factor for a final glide, especially when low. You observed correctly, the wind on that day was very week. But it happens often that from afternoon on, there is wind from the north, which means often a headwind for the final glide. It is caused by the main ridge of the Alps, which is sucking the air from the flatlands and hills towards the high mountains. Sometimes its a headwind which makes the final glide shorter, but as well it can help for ridge flying late in the day when thermals becoming very rare. I m planning to make a video on that soon. Cheers!
I hope you would be able to avoid collisions with paragliders at that speed. Not a fan of such flights and there might be less experienced pilots who feel inspired…
very important points! thanks! avoiding collisions by looking out is so much important. this attention is needed everywhere at any time. as well gliders sometimes fly at much higher speeds under cloud streets where the traffic is higher than down in the valley. there is a edition of late night soaring which adresses the topic and connects the paraglider and glider community. FLARM is for sure a very helpful technology, recently used not only by gliders bit as well engine powered aircrafts and paragliders more and more. and i totally agree, this route is only recommended after flown and carefully checked with a local gliding instructor.
The glider has maximum glide ratio of 43 at the speed of 116 kph according to the flight manual. For the distance of 18km the glider would have lost 420m. Of course these numbers are more theory because they have been calculated in still air without any wind. I hope I could understand and answer your question?
Me, as a gamer and an incredibly high risk tolerance in RL: 200m above the ground at it's lowest? Ok, easy, we start 150 meters lower and obliterate his PB
Good point. I agree that there isn't much margin if you encounter sink. I tried to approach it like this: The first unlandable part from Steinplatte to Reit im Winkl is approximately 11 km long. If you begin the route at 1600 meters, the next available outlanding option in Reit im Winkl is at 700 meters (so a difference of 900 meters in height, which we can convert into a distance). This means a glide ratio of 12 would just be sufficient for a direct outlanding on a field. However, if you are flying a glider with a potential glide ratio of 43, and considering the average calculation for final glides in the mountains is 25, there is still some margin left for hitting sink and still reach the next outlanding option (please note that the numbers are just rough calculations). Of course if there is rain shower nearby or wave conditions where heavy sink is to be expected, I would not enter this route. I hope this answers your question?
Assuming a pilot can fly the numbers, and nat get lured into attempting to climb in weak lift that wastes valuable time and altitude. And assuming there is no severe headwind present, then of course the math will show a glide ratio required to reach a destination based on simple height over distance. As long as that number is conservative in relation to the aircraft and pilots ability to fly at that lift coefficient to better that required glide ratio , you will make it. Keeping the out-landing field in mind is valuable insurance.
thanks for your feedback! i started gliding very late, with 30 years old. so i feel that i am constantly learning a lot. i started to publish videos to share experiences of gliding, including the mistakes AND the fascination, ups and downs. i hope it helps other pilots to make better decisions and as well just enjoy the fun of this sport.
@@michaelderflinger5002 It is a dream to make in one day from Unterwössen to Wiener Neustadt. Its a challenge but possible. See you up there soon and good luck for exploring the mountains!
Great shots, nice and close to the site. But that wouldn't do anything for my nerves. As a "little mountain flyer" and someone who doesn't know every Alpine valley, I would fly from Steinplatte via Erpfendorf and Kirchdorf to St. Johann. This is 4 km closer and you don't have to fly so close over the ground. However, I don't know the outlanding situation in this valley. Would that be an alternative?
Thanks for your comment! Yes, this route is tense and needs to be considered very carefully. In case of being low, going from Steinplatte to the direction to St. Johann is for sure more relaxed and there are many outlanding options in the valleys to there. One (Waidring) is just down in the valley under the Steinplatte. An nice video about an outlanding there you can find here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o2zt9XekRoA.htmlsi=TRRetv2TC1SzHYar @the.flying.adventure
…thanks for your question. two reasons: 1st i tried to keep a glide ratio around 20-25 to simulate a glider with lower glide performance. i did this by keeping an eye on the calculated glide ratio to the airfield on the navigations system (xcsoar) and speeded up or slow down if necessary. 2nd in the mountains many pilots calculate a glide ratio of 25 to be on the safe side. i do this too even this glider has a glide ratio of 43. but to come back to your question, of course its more safe and relaxed to choose best glide ratio for this route.
